John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. The reason I am raising this in the House is as a result of a conversation with a long-time friend of mine, Tom Muckian, from Dundalk who is an independent bookseller in the town for more than two decades. He brought up three issues with the free books scheme from a bookseller's point of view. I am raising those three issues in the Seanad today, along with three potential solutions as to what the Government could do to make it that bit easier.

The first issue Tom brought to my attention was that not enough money was earmarked for the scheme in the first place. The figure used was a figure from Barnardos, which was about €96 per student. However, booksellers and schools have said that figure needs to be around €120 to €130 per pupil. That would guarantee that there would be no need for a contribution from parents towards a school, however voluntary a contribution it might be.

The second issue was that there was no clear instruction from the Department of Education to schools about how this scheme should be run. Some schools already have a book rental scheme and, naturally, they are in a much better position to take advantage of the scheme that has been introduced. Whereas schools that previously had no book rental scheme, or a limited service, are finding themselves short of funds and they are unclear as to whether they are setting up a book rental scheme or if they are simply buying books for students that are then passed on to the next year. The fact is that we do not know if this grant will keep coming year after year. I would really appreciate it if the Department could provide a greater clarity as to what schools need to do in the next two to three years.

The third issue is relevant to shops, and we are talking about independent bookshops here. At present, money is being given to the schools which approach suppliers for tender submissions. That is leading to a race to the bottom and in many cases shops are being asked to bear the brunt of the financial shortfall when tendering. It also places a disproportionate emphasis on price alone. No consideration is given to the sustainability of or the existing good service provided by local shops. For example, if a school in Dundalk has to go through a tender process and a place in Dublin, Cork, or Donegal offers bottom price, it is difficult to have to send the money there rather than to the local bookshop around the corner. That type of understanding of locality must be taken into account. I understand the tender process; I get that it has to be best value for money but it is unfair that we would be shipping money out of small towns where there are good local bookshops.

The three issues with the scheme are: first, it would be helpful if we increased the amount per pupil; second, it is about giving clarity to schools; and third, the tendering process should be cognisant of local shops.

The three solutions we might implement are as follows: I would take the advice of the schools and the publishers on the amount per student. The schools and the publishers are saying it is should be €120 to €130, so we should really look at that. We should give clear instructions as to the future of the scheme and how it should be implemented. As I said, that clarity would be really helpful. It would also be good to have some instruction that sustainability be a key part of the procurement process. It does not make any sense for a larger operator, who offers bottom price, to squeeze smaller or medium bookshops out of the market.

I have raised three issues with the scheme. They need to be teased out to make it an excellent scheme. However, these are three examples from independent booksellers who are dealing with this day in, day out. We need to try to fix this in order to have a really great scheme.